A Weighty Matter - Exodus 20:7-11

[0:00] Well, good morning, everyone. Welcome to Calvary Chapel of Charlotte. What a beautiful morning. We are in the month of May. Fantastic. As we continue to go through the word,! And in the lightning and the trumpet, and he told the people to sanctify themselves against the third day to come out and to receive specifically from him, his voice, not Moses' this time, not something from Moses to Aaron to the people, but from God audibly to the people.

[0:46] And so he begins to speak to them, and he says, thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images, nor bow down to them. And then today we're going to look at number three and four.

[0:57] So we're making our way through this. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, and to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. And this will round out the four that have to do primarily with our look towards God, our relationship towards God.

[1:10] The rest are more our relationship towards man. And we know we're going to look at this verse later when the one lawyer, he came to Jesus, and he said, what is the greatest commandment? And Jesus said, well, the greatest is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

[1:25] This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is likened to it. Love your neighbor as yourself. And you can kind of see that encompassed in these 10 commandments given to the nation of Israel. Again, this is 10 commandments given to who?

[1:38] The nation of Israel. It's not given to the United States. It's not given to the nations of the world. It's given to Israel. To establish their identity as a people who've come out of Egypt, a group of slaves, a couple million, and God is going to establish their identity as a nation.

[1:52] Ultimately, to point to Jesus, who the fulfillment of this will then open up to all the nations, the ability to be part of God's kingdom. As we said, this encompasses God's moral commands as well.

[2:07] Behind this is the heart of God. The heart of God doesn't change because he doesn't change. The God of the New Testament is the same as the God of the Old Testament. He expresses himself differently to different groups of people. At this point in time, he's expressing himself to the nation of Israel.

[2:21] But behind that is the same God. The same God here who says, honor your father and mother. Well, he's not going to the New Testament and say, but you don't have to do that anymore. I'm a different.

[2:32] No, we see the same thing is there. But we're going to see in commandments three and commandments four, we're going to see they both have to do with this idea of honoring God.

[2:43] And they all flow from commandment one. And if you do one and go down through, the next one just flows naturally. But commandment number three is to honor and respect God.

[2:54] Commandment number four is to honor and remember. They all tie back to what? Commandment number one. Thou shall have no other gods before me. If that is established, then all the rest make a lot of sense.

[3:08] Hebrews 4.10 tells us, For he that has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works as God did from his. For he that has entered into his rest. That would be we who've entered into Jesus's rest.

[3:20] It's talking about how Joshua could not bring Israel into their ultimate place of rest, into the promised land. There remains a rest. But the principle is if we've entered into rest, we're not doing what?

[3:33] Work. We're not working. So as we look at the scriptures, we say all the time, we have to look through the lens of the New Testament. We can't just approach this as, Here are the Ten Commandments, and this is how they apply to us in the same way they did Israel.

[3:46] Because we've entered into rest. We've entered into his rest. Now that we've entered into Christ, we are able to look at the whole entirety of the scripture through the lens of the Messiah.

[3:56] Israel was to do the same by looking forward to the Messiah. Looking at the scripture and looking forward to him, we look at the scriptures, we look back, and then see how it applies to us.

[4:09] So as we approach the law, you know, we said last week how the law for us, there is a law and it's a moral law. And that morality is the existence of a standard of right and wrong that is innate to man, but originates from outside of man.

[4:23] We all have that standard. We all have an innate standard of right and wrong, but it doesn't originate with us. Because I don't determine my own standard, and you don't determine your own standard. It originates from outside of us.

[4:35] How do we know that? Because we all have the same standard, right? Now the world wants to say, well, we can initiate our own standard. We can have our own standard of right and wrong, and we're going to impose that. The problem is, because I have an innate standard of right and wrong, I know it cuts across it.

[4:50] I know it's not right. So what happens? Well, the Bible calls that a seared conscience. If I continue to reject and to silence that innate standard of right and wrong, that morality, that conscience, what happens is I will sear it.

[5:05] In other words, I will, it's like cauterizing a wound or whatever, a burn that, it kills the nerves. I no longer have a sensitivity to that. We live in a world that calls right wrong and wrong right, because they've done that.

[5:19] But God approaches us with a standard, and it's thou shalt and thou shalt not. As we go through the Ten Commandments, we see that. There's a thou shalt, which means there's a thou shalt not, if there is a thou shalt.

[5:31] And as a moral creation, we are morally bound to the moral law of our moral creator. Make sense? If God created us as a moral creation with the ability to understand right and wrong, and he has imposed that morality because he is a God of thou shalt and thou shalt not.

[5:50] As we saw, he's an exclusive God. He alone is holy. He alone is God. Well, that means there is that which then is not God, that thou shalt not.

[6:01] So a man is accountable to keep the law. We are. We are accountable to our God who holds us accountable. But we can't keep it. Remember, we saw how the law is good, but I'm not good.

[6:13] The law is good for me, but I'm no good for the law. I can't keep it. So God sent a man who came and fulfilled that obligation. He fulfilled our obligation to keep the law on behalf of all men.

[6:27] If you would turn with me to Galatians chapter three, Paul, again, we're looking at the law through the lens of the New Testament, and Paul says it much better than I ever could.

[6:39] And he gives us understanding of how this applies to our lives. So when you get to Galatians chapter three, you can go down to verse 16, and we're gonna pick up there. Paul writes and says, now to Abraham and to his seed were the promises made.

[6:57] And he saith, and to seeds, not to seeds, I'm sorry. And he saith not to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to the seed which is Christ.

[7:08] So he says to Abraham, your seed, not your seeds, not all of the children that you've had. And well, we understand what that means because he had Ishmael and Isaac, but the promise came through Isaac. And he had Jacob and Esau, but the promise came through Jacob.

[7:22] So it's one seed pointing to Christ. And this I say in verse 17, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ. So he's saying there was a covenant confirmed to Abraham.

[7:36] The law, which was 430 years after, can't disannul it. Just because the law comes along, it doesn't now make the promise, the covenant he made to Abraham null and void.

[7:47] So now there's the law. He says something superseded the law. The point of the law was not to set aside God's promise and God's covenant. It cannot disannul it, that it should make the promise of none effect.

[8:01] In verse 18 of Galatians 3, for if the inheritance be of the law, it's no more of promise. Uh-oh. Well, now we have an issue here. We have a thou shalt and a thou shalt not. We have two things that can't mix.

[8:12] Just as faith and works can't mix, well, we're told here that the law and the promise can't mix. I cannot obtain the promises of God through his law. Because if the inheritance was by the law, it's no more of promise.

[8:25] But God gave it to Abraham by promise. Therefore then, why the law? What's the purpose of the law? What serves the law? Well, it was added because of transgressions.

[8:36] Till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. It was added, why? For transgressions. The law wasn't to make me holy. The law was because I'm unholy. The law is because I'm not righteous.

[8:49] The law was to keep, protect, and preserve me until the promise comes. It was to keep God's people prepared for the promise. Christ came and fulfilled the moral law of transgressions.

[8:59] The one that we owe, the one we are accountable to God for. So that we might now live under, not law, but promise. Right? Say, well, we're condemned in sin.

[9:10] We owe God this accountability morally. And we've failed. And God isn't a moral God, and a just God. He's going to have to hold me accountable. But I can't keep the law.

[9:21] But now I found out the law wasn't even to make me righteous. It's because I'm a sinner. It was to show my transgression that I'm accountable to God. So what does he do? Well, he sends a man to fulfill that. So that now the law has been fulfilled.

[9:33] Is the law void, set aside, and not without a purpose? Not at all. The law is still good, but now the law has been fulfilled on my behalf. And now we live under promise.

[9:44] We don't live under law. And what is the promise? It's love. It's a new law. The law of love. Jesus says in Matthew 22, we read that I quoted this earlier, when they asked him and said, what is the greatest commandment?

[9:59] He said, well, I shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

[10:11] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. What do all the law and the prophets hang on? The commandment to do what? To love. To love. The law of love is now, all that is done out of love is accepted by God.

[10:26] It's not my deeds. I'm not trying to make myself accepted by God by a law that I keep, by the deeds that I do. No, no, no. Now, all that is done out of love is accepted by God.

[10:38] And it's not love like the world says, oh yeah, I love, I love, I love. No, no. What is that love? We shall love the Lord your God. With all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And out of that, then what?

[10:49] Well, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. So now as we act out of love, the law is fulfilled through us. Not by us. We don't fulfill the law. We cannot fulfill the law.

[11:01] But since the law was fulfilled for us, we get to experience what it is to have the law then fulfilled through us. Galatians, back to Galatians chapter three. Let's jump down to verse 21.

[11:12] Is the law then against the promises of God? Well, if they're exclusive to each other, the law must be against God's promises. No, God forbid. For if there had been a law given, which could have given life, well, then truly righteousness, it would have been by the law.

[11:27] If that was possible, okay, it would have happened. But the scriptures concluded that we are all under sin. In other words, none of us can keep that law. That the promise by the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

[11:41] You say, well, I'm condemned under the law. I'm under sin. Praise God. Wonderful. Then you have access to the promise. If you weren't under the law, if you weren't condemned under sin, then you don't have access to promise because it was by the law that Jesus fulfilling that gave us access to promise.

[12:01] But verse 23, before faith came, we were kept under the law. We were shut up under the faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Therefore, the law was our schoolmaster. It was our instructor, our tutor, our governor, to bring us to Christ, not to condemn us and to push us away from God, not to be like, you are so bad and naughty and no, it's to bring us to him.

[12:24] We were to say, I can't keep this. And just as we're going to see when we get down to the end of chapter 20, we referenced it last time in verse 24, that the law wasn't given without sacrifice, that there's an altar and there's a sacrifice.

[12:36] The law points us to that. I need the altar because of the law. Now, back to Galatians, the law was our schoolmaster to bring us under Christ that we might be justified by faith.

[12:48] And after faith has come, well, we're no longer under a schoolmaster, right? I don't need the governor, the tutor, the protector anymore once I've now come to the promise, now that I've come to faith.

[13:01] The law preserved and prepared for promise. And that promise is Jesus. That is the point of the law, to prepare us and preserve us for promise.

[13:13] Can we keep the law? No. Like we said last time, because I don't eat healthy all the time. You know, I had a donut. Shouldn't have done that. I'm trying to do better. Well, I'm going to throw caution to the wind and I'm just going to eat donuts all the time.

[13:24] Do we do that? No. We don't do it in relationships. You know, I'm really struggling. I don't think I was honest with that person. And I'm just not faithful. So I'm not even trying to be faithful in my relationships. Forget it.

[13:35] No, we don't do that. We go, oh, I need to do better. Because we recognize the law is good. We want that working in our lives. I want goodness working through my life, right? So I'm not going to throw that off, but I'm going to recognize that it points me to something.

[13:49] It points me to the fact I'm a transgressor and that I need someone to fulfill the law for me. And Jesus did that. Jump over to Galatians chapter four. Galatians chapter four.

[14:02] I'm going over from Galatians chapter three. Pick up in verse four. And Paul writes, Do you understand what that means?

[14:32] The spirit of Jesus, the very spirit that he lived and operated for 30 years and administered for three years, that spirit, he sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

[14:48] I read out of the old King James. Abba. Could just say crying Father, but he puts Abba in there. That's a term of endearment, like Daddy. Like there's nothing that separates now. We have a new innate law of love.

[15:02] We have now within us the spirit of the son of God that cries out, Abba, Father. Not, uh-oh, schoolmaster, I'm in trouble. But one that says, oh, Dad, I love you.

[15:15] I want to respond to you in love. The truths of the law are now expressed to us through promise because of what Jesus has done, and they're lived out by love.

[15:28] Do I keep the law? No. But does the Holy Spirit work the law of God out through me? Yes. Amazingly. I can't keep the law, and yet I see the goodness of the law, the effects of the goodness of the law, working out my life all the time through no effort of my own, except to respond to the spirit that God puts within me that cries, Abba, Father.

[15:50] Romans 5, 5. And hope makes not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us. Today, I do not honor God by keeping the law, but by receiving his promise and loving his son.

[16:07] That's how the church responds to the law. By receiving his promise and loving his son. And we do that, and then the love of God is shed abroad in my heart. And then Jesus, when he says, hey, the greatest commandment is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

[16:21] How can I keep that command? I don't. I just live it out. And you should love your neighbor as yourself. I don't even like my neighbor. I don't have to worry about it. Jesus loves him. When his love is shed abroad in my heart, these things just work out.

[16:34] I don't have to do it. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. It is now through that love that we enjoy a life of fulfillment and not a failure.

[16:52] That love allows me to enjoy a life of fulfillment and not one of constant failure. I broke the law. I broke the law. I broke the law. And I know I should keep this law. There's something. Instead, I respond by faith.

[17:06] I have the love of God in my heart. And it begins to do a work that I couldn't keep on my own. Turn back to Galatians 3. It's the last one we'll turn to in Galatians.

[17:17] Turn backwards to Galatians 3. If you're in Galatians 4, you turn to the left, you'll find Galatians 3. Should look familiar. We're going to back up a little and start in verse 13 and read verse 13 and 14.

[17:28] Galatians 3, 13. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree. Why did he do that?

[17:40] That the blessing of Abraham, the promise of Abraham, the blessing of Abraham, that the love of God might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

[17:53] That is how we relate to God. And that is how we operate in the life that he's given us to live. Not by law. So is the law invalid? We can just skip Exodus 20.

[18:04] We'll go on to like numbers or something. No, no, no, no. Because this is the heart of God expressed to man. And I can look at this and I don't have to go, how am I going to do this? Instead, I can go, God, you're going to do this.

[18:16] You're going to do this in and through me as I respond to your love. And I respond to you in love. My relationship to God is not established now by keeping the law. But it's established by the one who kept the law on my behalf.

[18:30] Does that make sense? I enter into God's love now by entering into relationship with the one who loves us and gave himself for us.

[18:42] And we know and believe the love that God has to us. God is love. And he that dwells in love dwells in God. And God in him. It's very simple.

[18:55] By faith, we receive the love of God. And then God does this amazing work through us. That's the privilege and promise we have as a New Testament believer. We get to live in that. Israel's being given a law here.

[19:06] And do they feel like, oh, am I going to do this? I think a little. But it's to point them to the sacrifice. It's to point them to the altar. You and I should look at this and know right away, I can't do this. That's why I came to Jesus in the first place.

[19:18] And then it should be an encouraging thing. God, this is what you want to do through me. If you're not doing this through me, Lord, do I need to work harder? No, I probably need to receive more love so that I can respond in love.

[19:30] So all the good that's contained in the law is now worked out in our lives as a natural outflow of love, not of effort. It's a natural outflow of love and relationship that's based upon promise, not performance.

[19:45] Our relationship to God is not based upon performance. That allows us then to have relationships with one another that's not based on performance. How does a righteous man fall seven times and get up again and still have friends?

[20:00] Because we don't base it on performance. We base it on love. We base it on promise. So we've seen in the first two commandments. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

[20:13] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, nor bow down to it. Commandment 1 and commandment 2a and 2b. It's really kind of like 11 commandments and we squish the second one into two. We're to have no other gods because there is no other God.

[20:25] God is exclusive. He's set apart. Any other God does what? It leads us away from exclusivity. It leads us away from having one God. It leads us away from the place where we can be blessed and protected and preserved.

[20:39] 1 Peter 1.16, because it is written, Be you holy, for I am holy. Oh, I got to be perfect. No, just be set apart. Be exclusive. Be singular towards God. God, in the same way, he is singular and exclusive towards us.

[20:54] There is exclusively only one God, but he's a God of life, of love, and of blessing. Right? God expects then our lives to reflect that exclusivity, that we might enjoy an exclusive life of love, life, and blessing.

[21:09] See, God is exclusively a God of life, love, and blessing. You're not going to find that in any other gods. But he wants us then to come and be holy, to be set apart unto him, so that we can experience that life of love and of blessing.

[21:21] We're not going to experience it any other way. He said, do not make a graven image. If you remember what that meant, a graven image is any likeness or image created by man to be God.

[21:33] I want to go a little deeper on this, because I feel like last week, after we ended, everybody probably went home and threw out every picture they had of a shepherd with a sheep or something. It's like, oh, it's an image of Jesus. There is none like God.

[21:45] And there is therefore to be nothing in his likeness as God. Okay? There is to be nothing in his likeness as God.

[21:56] Psalm 113, verses 4 and 5. The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God? Who dwells on high? Who's going to make a likeness to that?

[22:09] He's above all peoples. Nations just means people groups. He's above the heavens. I don't know what's above the heavens. I haven't been there. Who's like the Lord our God who dwells on high?

[22:22] So idolatry, it attempts to constrain and contain God. That's the issue. And whatever can be contained can be controlled. So when I make a God in my image or in an image or I try to constrain God to this is what God is, and be careful because an idol can also be in our minds.

[22:40] Right? Paul tells us, The weapons of our warfare aren't carnal, but are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

[22:52] Oh, we have all kinds of idols in there. We have all kinds of things we constrain God to and contain him in my way of thinking that, well, this has to be God because this is what I've contained him to. Well, the problem with that is I can control that.

[23:05] That's what I want. I want to control God. So if I can control God, then I can make God in my image, and I can be God, and now we're right back in the garden where Satan said, You can be his God.

[23:19] Solomon, when he built the temple in 2 Chronicles 2, I'll make you turn there. He's building the temple, and he's offering up this prayer to the Lord. And he says, Lord, I build this house in your name.

[23:30] It's to burn offerings. It's for sweet incense. It's for showbread. And he says, And the house which I build is great. It's amazing. It is a great house.

[23:43] For God is a great God above all gods. And so I built him a really great house. You think, well, okay, Solomon built a temple to contain God, right? And it was just really big and beautiful.

[23:55] And so it just, but that contained him. And Solomon says, But who is able to build him a house? Seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him.

[24:07] Now we're even above the heavens and the heaven of heavens can't contain him. You say, well, I didn't build this house to contain him. Why did he build it? Who am I then? That I should build him a house, except only to burn sacrifice before him.

[24:22] Solomon didn't build the temple to contain God. He built the temple for sacrifice. Because he knew he needed a relationship with God. Jesus did not come to show us what God looked like.

[24:36] He came for sacrifice. That building that was made without hands, that building that was Jesus' body, wasn't so that God could be contained there and we would know what he looked like.

[24:48] No, it was a building made for sacrifice. He came that he might sacrifice. A likeness may remind me of God without any attempt to be God.

[25:00] Whoa, that's a little, I don't know. A likeness reminds you of God? Jesus came in the likeness of man. And a man's likeness is like what Jesus looked like. Did you get that? Jesus came in the likeness of man.

[25:12] And a man's likeness is like what Jesus looked like. Are you saying Jesus looked like you? Jesus looked like me. No, I'm not saying Jesus looked like me. I'm saying he looked like a man. He didn't look like a cherubim as we're looking at in Revelation.

[25:25] They had four faces and lots of wings and eyes and he came in the likeness of man. Now, I do not attempt to create Jesus' likeness. We ought not.

[25:35] I'm not gonna. No way. But that does not mean that a man's likeness cannot remind me of Jesus, right? The image of the likeness of a man with a crown of thorns that reminds me of Jesus is not Jesus.

[25:50] That's not Jesus. I'm not saying that is Jesus. I'm not pretending that's Jesus. I'm saying, man, Jesus was a man who had a crown of thorns and he bled. So the image of a man with a crown of thorns, it reminds me of Jesus, but it's not Jesus.

[26:05] It's simply the likeness of a man that reminds me that Jesus was a man that he wore a crown of thorns. That's not the Holy Spirit, guys.

[26:19] That's the Calvary Chapel dove. That's what I think of it. You put it out there so you know this is a Calvary Chapel. This is what I identified with, that we teach line by line, verse by verse. We continue steadfastly in the Apostles' Doctrine and breaking bread and fellowship and prayer.

[26:33] I reverse that. It's Apostles' Doctrine and fellowship, breaking bread and prayer. The Holy Spirit descended as a dove, in the likeness of a dove. If I see a dove, it makes me think, man, Lord, I can't believe, that's how the Holy Spirit was presented.

[26:47] He was gentle, he was soft. He didn't come like a swooping eagle, you know, it was a dove. That's when I see a dove, that reminds me that the Holy Spirit comes gently. It doesn't make me go, well, there's the Holy Spirit.

[26:59] No, that's not the Holy Spirit. I do not attempt to make an image of God. Neither will I make any image out to be God. The world does. If I say, what does Jesus look like to you?

[27:12] I bet you all come up with the same images in your head as I do. That the world has said, this is what Jesus looks like. That's not what Jesus looked like. Jesus looked like a man, but we don't know what that man looked like.

[27:26] We are not to attempt to bring God down to our level. We are not, and that's the issue. But that does not mean God will not come down to our level, because he did. As we read in Galatians 4, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son as a man.

[27:44] So, if you have a picture at home of a shepherd, with a sheep, a leading little child, that's not Jesus. And don't pretend it is Jesus. Okay? It's something that reminds you of the way Jesus is chosen to be towards us.

[27:58] Now, can truth be conveyed through image? No. We're given truth through the word. The word of God is quick and powerful. It's the gospel which is the truth. We don't convey truth through image.

[28:09] But it doesn't mean God didn't give us the ability to see and enjoy. The heavens declare the glory of God. The heavens aren't God, but they declare his glory. A shepherd with a sheep, man, that declares his gentleness and his love.

[28:22] Picture of a man with a crown of thorns, makes me think of how Jesus took that from me. So, I'm not going to attempt to bring God down to my level because he did come down to my level.

[28:35] Let's turn to Exodus chapter 20, verse 7. You knew we'd get there eventually. So, do not attempt to make God into any image.

[28:48] And neither make an image out to be God. Be okay with what it is. You know? It's just an image. Reminds me of who God is. Verse 7.

[29:02] Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain. So, we've started. You shall not. Thou shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make any graven image.

[29:14] You shall not bow down to them. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Well, that makes sense. If I have one God, and I'm not making any image of him, and I'm not trying to contain and constrain him, well, I'm not going to take his name in vain.

[29:28] In vain just means to make empty, light, or without substance. Right? I understand the weight and the gravity of who this God is that I'm dealing with. How can I contain him?

[29:38] I'm not even going to try. Besides, he's contained himself nice and neatly in this book for all that we need to know about him. God is honored. Exclusively. Singularly.

[29:50] We saw he was to be honored by faith and not sight. Essentially, we don't make an idol. Right? We don't need the image. We walk by faith and not by sight. Exclusive and singular as our one and only God.

[30:02] And he's honored in holiness and worship. He alone is to be worshiped. We're not to bow down to anything else. But we can add to that, that God is honored by not bearing lightly.

[30:13] That's what it means to take, to carry, to bear. By not bearing lightly, that which carries much weight. We take the name of the Lord. We carry his name. We don't take that lightly.

[30:24] Now, we don't take it to ourselves as if something we just grab and take a hold of. Right? We don't take it so commonly that we just use his name flippantly. The world does that.

[30:36] They use Jesus' name very lightly. But it is a name that's been given to us. It's a name that's been declared. It's a name we can receive. But it's all at his instigation, not ours.

[30:49] I don't go and declare, God, I'm going to take your name. I'm going to declare this in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name, this is going to happen. I'm going to name it and claim it. Right? We don't name it and claim it here. What do we do? Remember? Come on.

[31:01] We claim what is named. Right? We don't name it and claim it, but we're going to claim what's named. God's name promises for me. Man, I'm going to claim every single one because he's given them to me. But we're not going to take his name and just use it so lightly.

[31:15] 1 Corinthians 11, 23, Paul writes, For I have received the Lord, that which also I delivered unto you. He had to receive it before he could deliver it. It wasn't something he could just take to himself.

[31:27] Paul, like Moses, he received and passed on the name of the Lord. Exodus 20, verse 2. I am the Lord your God. God declares his name.

[31:39] That is the name he says you're not to take lightly. Turn back to Exodus chapter 6. Moses, at this point in Exodus chapter 6, he's already in Egypt.

[31:51] He's been sent there. He's having one of those Moses moments in the beginning of his ministry where he's like, I don't know about this. In Exodus chapter 6, we'll pick up in verse 2.

[32:02] And God spake unto Moses and said unto him, I am the Lord. And I appeared unto Abraham and unto Isaac and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty by El Shaddai.

[32:15] But by my name Jehovah was I not known to them. Jehovah the existing one, the sufficient one. And I have also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.

[32:29] And I have also heard the groanings of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage. And I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore, say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord.

[32:42] I am Jehovah. I am that I am Jehovah. And I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will rid you out of their bondage. And I will redeem you with a stretched out arm and with great judgments.

[32:57] And I will take you to me for a people. And I will be to you a God. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God. You shall know my name. Which brings you out from under the burden of the Egyptians.

[33:09] And I will bring you in unto the land concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham by promise, to Isaac and to Jacob. And I will give it to you for a heritage. I am the Lord.

[33:21] A name is so much more than a title. God says to Moses, you want to know what my name is? Here it is. It's a name of power, of purpose, and of promise. I will redeem you.

[33:32] I give you a purpose and a promise. That's what my name is contained in. All contained in my name. You know, a name does not determine who we are. My name is Jared. It doesn't determine who I am.

[33:43] But we very much determine our names, don't we? There are some names that you just say, Joe. Well, maybe you know a Joe when you think of one. Like when you go to name your kids. You know, your wife's like, what about this name? You're like, no, I know a guy.

[33:53] You can't do that one. But there's some names. A name is nothing. But we bring to that name. It's identity. Adolf. Anybody name their son that?

[34:05] Judas. Jezebel. Those names don't identify someone. Benedict is coming back as a name, right? Benedict Arnold, the traitor during the Revolutionary War.

[34:17] That name's coming back. Oh, that guy's, oh, you named your kid Benedict. Whoa, right? I named my daughter Katrina right after Hurricane Katrina. People are like, oh, like the hurricane? No, not like the hurricane. We like the name.

[34:31] She's very much not a hurricane. We determine what that name means, right? And God's name is determined by the God who he is.

[34:42] He's a God of power and of purpose and of promise. And looking forward to that promise fulfilled, we know that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Psalm 138 verse 2 says, I will worship towards your holy temple and praise your name for your loving kindness and for your truth.

[35:01] For you have magnified your word above all your name. Whoa. The name that they are, that God is saying here to Israel, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

[35:13] We're told in the Psalms that God has magnified his word above his name. Well, yeah, because who's his word? It's the word made flesh. As he sends Jesus. When we make light of our God's power, of his purpose and of his promise, that's to bear his name in vain.

[35:33] It's not just to say, oh, gosh, darn it. Right? It's when we make light of who our God is. Notice it says, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

[35:45] Well, the world takes his name in vain all the time. Of course they do. He's not their God. They don't bear his name. We bear that weight. We bear that responsibility. And whenever we make light, not of his name.

[35:58] His name just encompasses who he is. Right? When we make light of his power, of his purpose and his promise in our lives, we bear his name in vain. God, I know that promise is there for other people, but I don't believe it's for me.

[36:11] God, I know you're faithful, but I don't believe you're being faithful to me. God, I know you have a purpose for other people, but where's my purpose? I'm going to find my own purpose. Well, then we make light of his name.

[36:24] And we of all people, even more than Israel, we should understand the gravity of what was accomplished by that name so that we might bear that name.

[36:35] Right? Romans chapter 9, verse 25. He saith also in Hosea, I will call them my people, which were not my people. This Exodus 20 is not written to us.

[36:50] I will call them my people, which were not my people, and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said of them, you are not my people. You are rejected.

[37:01] You are not beloved. But in that place, they shall be called the children of the living God. We of all people understand the gravity of what was accomplished so that we could be bearers of that name.

[37:15] This isn't for us. This is for Israel. And yet through them and through Jesus, we now come under the blessing that's there. Now, the world does dishonor God. The world makes light of something that has such gravity and such significance.

[37:29] They handle it so carelessly. You know, but I think of when Jesus had the nails being pounded into his hands and into his feet. And what did he say?

[37:39] Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. If anybody was taking the name of the Lord in vain, it was the Roman soldiers who were crucifying him. And he said, Father, forgive them because they don't know what they do.

[37:53] They don't know what they're doing. They don't know what they're making light of. God takes it very serious. The handling of his name. Very serious. Because the question that determines man's most serious question.

[38:07] What we will do with his name is what determines the most serious question that man has. How do we answer to a God who we are accountable?

[38:18] John 8, 58. Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. Jesus.

[38:30] As we read here, I am the Lord your God which brought you out of the land of Egypt. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. And here Jesus says, that's me. Before Abraham was.

[38:40] Before the law and before the promise is the promiser. 1 John 5, 12. He that has the Son has life. He that has not the Son of God has not life.

[38:51] The question, what are we going to do with God's name? Is the biggest question we'll have to face in all of our lives. For all of our eternity. He that has not that name, he doesn't have life. But he who has it, has life.

[39:03] Well, Jesus, I believe in you. I just said his name. Jesus. I've got his name. No, no, no. We just saw. So much more is contained in a name. Behind it is an identity and a person. Proverbs 18, 10.

[39:16] The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runs into it and is safe or saved. The name of the Lord. Jesus is our strong tower. We run into. And we don't bear that lightly.

[39:27] We bear it with a blessing. We honor and respect. Which leads into verse 8. And we remember. We honor and remember. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

[39:42] So. If we've kept. Commandment 1. Commandment 2. Commandment 3. Then commandment 4 makes sense. Right? If I have one God.

[39:53] I am the Lord your God. And in his name is contained all that he has done for me. And I honor him alone. And if I'm not going to take his name in vain and take it lightly. And I'm not going to try and contain him with some image.

[40:05] Well. Then it makes sense to let him. Determine my priorities. You shall remember the Sabbath day. And keep it holy.

[40:16] Six days shall you labor and do all your work. But the seventh day of the Sabbath of the Lord your God. And in it you shall not do any work. You nor your son. Nor your daughter. Your manservants. Or your maidservants.

[40:27] Your employees. Nor your cattle. Nor your stranger that is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth. The sea and all that in them is.

[40:38] And rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath. And hallowed it. We are to remember that. Remember means to recall. Rehearse. Or respond.

[40:49] Our part is simply to keep what God's already established. He's established this rest. He established Sabbath. I didn't do that. We do not work for rest. We enter in and enjoy.

[41:01] And keep rest. Israel as a nation is being told to recall. To rehearse. And respond. To what? A blessing. Look at the end of verse 11.

[41:12] The Lord blessed the Sabbath day. And sanctified it. Set it apart. Israel as a nation is told. Hey recall. Rehearse. Respond to the blessing that God has for them. In the rest he set apart for them.

[41:24] God has set apart for them a rest. Just be blessed in that. Six days you shall labor. Verse 9. And do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.

[41:36] If commands 1 through 3 are observed. Command 4 is a no-brainer. Right? This rest is established by God. It's his. It's not mine. It's his rest. The rest of the Lord your God.

[41:46] But it's for man. It's from God. But for man. In it you shall not do any work. No. Neither your sons or your daughters.

[41:58] Your maidservants. Your manservants. Your cattle or their strangers. God decides the weight of my priorities. If I've taken his name. Not in vain. But I understand the gravity and the weight of that. Then I let him establish the weight of my priorities.

[42:10] God I need to work. I need to get ahead in this world. He says no. You need a day of rest. For Israel. Now you may have heard people teach the Ten Commandments. And say well. All the Ten Commandments are for all peoples.

[42:21] Except this one. This is specifically for Israel. Well no. Actually all of these Ten Commandments are only for Israel. As we've said. This doesn't say to Israel and all the nations. This is only to Israel. As a nation. This is not for any other nation.

[42:34] But as we said. God's moral commands are encompassed in this. That all people are accountable to. But God behind this is not just saying that only Israel is to rest.

[42:45] He even says if you have a stranger there. They're to enter into rest. The problem is. Our priorities fall under the curse. You see when Adam sinned. It totally changed our priorities. And when God comes and says to Adam.

[42:57] Hey Adam in the sweat of your face. You're going to eat bread. Until you return into the ground. You're going to have to work for it now. He's not instituting that. He's just explaining that. Right. He's giving boundaries to the curse.

[43:08] Adam brought the curse through sin. And God says hey. This is the effect of it now. You're going to have to work. In the sweat of your face. To eat bread. Until you return to the ground. But what he didn't tell Adam was.

[43:19] That his priority. Was that. He didn't change his priorities. His priority was still. What? God. Right. The first thing God gave Adam to do. Was to keep his command.

[43:30] You shall not eat of the tree. Of the garden of the knowledge. Of good and evil. Prioritize my word Adam. Well now that you've sinned. You don't have to prioritize my word anymore. You can prioritize work. No. The priority didn't change.

[43:41] He was just telling him. What his curse was. For fallen man. Work. Does what? Well. It allows us to feel like we have control. Our own destiny.

[43:52] Our own future. Almost as if. I have control of God. So easy to make it an idol. Because if I have enough resources. I don't have to rely on the Lord. I cannot tell you.

[44:03] I'm so thankful in my life. The lack of resources I've had. So many times. Even in the life of this church. Because like. Well Lord. Is that you? I can't.

[44:15] I can't say. Yeah. It's him. And then not have the resources. And go forward. And make it happen. Because I've got millions of dollars. And it's like. You know what? We're going to do this. We're going to move here. We're going to. Man. Everything the Lord's done. Every house we've lived in.

[44:26] He's had to provide for. In a way that to us. Was miraculous. It was just like. Wow Lord. You're so good. But we feel like work. Allows us to feel like. We're in control of our own destiny in life.

[44:38] In reality. Work is just evidence. That we're headed for dust. It's just evidence. That our end is dust. And death. Work only proves. What God said.

[44:48] Hey. You're under a curse. And you're going to end in dust. Not that we don't work. Just that we keep it. In its proper perspective. And priority. Work does not supersede. God's priorities.

[45:00] Work. Work does not supersede. God's rest. God's rest. Encompasses all peoples. As we see here. All priorities. All projects. And specifically.

[45:11] Those that fall within. The sphere of influence. Of his people. Because he said. The seventh. Sabbath is the seventh day. Of the Lord. Your God. And you shall not do any work. Nor any of those.

[45:22] You're responsible for. So we're responsible. For our sphere of influence. For our priorities. I can't prioritize for you. I wish I could. Sometimes.

[45:32] I think. Oh man. That's a terrible priority. Only because I've lived that terrible priority. And come to the end. And found it dust. It's like. Oh man. That's. That's not going to go anywhere. Seek first.

[45:43] The kingdom of God. Matthew 6.33. And his righteousness. And all these things will be added unto you. You know you can't reverse that. But we try. I'm going to seek first all these things. And I'm going to go to church.

[45:54] And I'm going to add God in. And I'm going to say God bless all these things that I've decided to do. No. We seek first the kingdom of God. And his righteousness. And he'll add them. He'll add them.

[46:04] As he sees fit. And at his timing. In Joshua 24. Joshua says. About his sphere of influence. He says. If it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord.

[46:15] If you don't want to do this guys. I'm not going to make you. I can't make you do this. Then choose who you're going to serve. Whether you serve the gods. Which your father served. On the other side of the flood. On the other side of Jordan. And on the other side of the Red Sea.

[46:27] Or the gods of the Amorites. In whose land you now dwell. The promised land. They were supposed to cast these gods out. But as for me and my house. From my sphere of influence. Man we're going to prioritize God's priorities. We're going to put his priorities first.

[46:40] I'm going to let him add everything else. One of God's indictment. Through Ezekiel as prophet. To Israel at that time. To the nation was. You have despised my holy things.

[46:51] The things that I have set apart. The things I have prioritized. And you've profaned my Sabbaths. You've despised the rest. And the blessing that I have for you. Verse 11. For in six days the Lord made heaven.

[47:01] And earth. The sea. And all that in them is. And he rested. The seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day. And hallowed it. Why is it so important.

[47:13] For God's people. To remember. To recall. Rehearse. And respond. To God's rest. Why is it so important? Because man was created to enter into rest. When did God create Adam?

[47:24] Day. Six. Right? The first full day Adam experienced. Created on the sixth day. Wakes up. To a brand new day. And what day is it?

[47:35] It's a day of rest. God created man. For rest. To enter into rest. The curse. Flipped it. And said. Well now you got to work. Work. Work. Work. Work. Work. Right? That's your priority.

[47:46] So the guy said. No. That's not your priority. Man was created to enter into rest. And man becomes established. When he's established in the rest. That God has made for him. That's when we are established. God's rest.

[47:58] Was established by God. Right? God established this rest. But it was for man. God wasn't tired. God didn't need to rest. It was established for man. In Mark chapter 2.

[48:10] Jesus healed on the Sabbath day. And they couldn't believe it. Oh my word. You've profaned the Sabbath. And he's like. You don't understand the Sabbath guys. He said. The Sabbath was made for man. And not man for the Sabbath.

[48:20] Therefore the son of man. Is Lord also of the Sabbath. Jesus established a rest. Jesus is Lord of the rest. We were not made.

[48:31] To keep the law. But to be blessed. By what God has established. When man refuses. God's rest. He's refusing to be set apart.

[48:42] Under blessing. Because we're told here. That the Lord blessed the Sabbath day. And hallowed it. When we refuse to enter God's rest. We're refusing blessing. A blessing God set apart for us.

[48:52] That cannot be obtained by effort. And work. But only by rest. For you and I. We do not celebrate the Sabbath day. As Israel does here. But we do celebrate a Sabbath rest.

[49:03] We are to enter into. And observe a Sabbath rest. That's to encompass every day of the week. Not just Saturday. When Israel would. Observe their Sabbath.

[49:16] Neither is Sunday. This day. A replacement for a Sabbath. Now. Throughout the history of our nation. And the. It was very much. A day that was used as a day of rest.

[49:27] To honor the principle. That God wants us to rest. But it wasn't to be kept. Because of religious law. Or because God said. Keep the Sabbath. But it's because. We celebrate a rest.

[49:38] That we've entered into. Hebrews 10. Verse 12 says. But this man. Jesus. After he had offered. One sacrifice. For sins. Forever. Well he rested.

[49:50] He sat down. At the right hand of God. It's done. Well we enter into that rest. Our Sabbath is not found in a place. It's not by coming here. Right?

[50:01] But it's in a person. We find rest now in a person. Not in a place. In Jesus. But we also find it among his people. We find our rest in Jesus. And it stands to reason.

[50:13] That that rest would be experienced in his body. Hebrews chapter 10. We read. Let us draw near with a true heart. In full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.

[50:24] And our bodies washed with pure water. We've now been made accepted. Because of the work that he's done. Let us hold fast. The profession of our faith. Without wavering. For he is faithful that promised.

[50:35] We've looked at this section a lot. Those first few verses. But look what follows that. Look what follows that. Relationship that we now have. Because of the work he's done. Because the law is fulfilled. Because the love of God is shed abroad in my heart.

[50:46] And let us consider one another. To provoke unto love and to good works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. As the manner of some is. But exhorting one another.

[50:57] So much more. As you see the day approaching. For myself. As for me and my house. We're going to prioritize the Lord. And I'm going to prioritize what he prioritizes. I'm not going to prioritize the things of this world.

[51:10] The things that are part of the fallen nature. And the things that lead to dust. I mean I don't work? Yes I work. Man I don't let that keep me from prioritizing the things of the Lord. For you and I.

[51:23] We become established. When we are established in rest. Hebrews 4.10 says. For he that has entered into his rest. He also has ceased. From his own works. As God does from his.

[51:34] As we just read there. Man when we enter into his rest. It's a verse we started with. We cease from our own works.

[51:45] We enter into that Sabbath. We enter into that rest. How do we do that? Well we prioritize the things that God prioritizes. We honor his name by not taking lightly. His purpose. His power.

[51:56] His presence. I recognize who I am. And who I have in Christ. I seek first. The kingdom of God and his righteousness. I love the Lord God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. Because I'm keeping the law.

[52:10] No way. Because the one who kept the law keeps me. Because Jesus keeps me. God's rest is found in God's name.

[52:20] It's found in who God is. This morning we're going to take communion. We're going to take communion because. Jesus. Means Jehovah is salvation.

[52:32] We are not to take the name of the Lord our God in vain. But we are to take it. We are to take part in that name. I am the Lord your God. Which has brought you out of the land of Egypt.

[52:42] And out of the house of bondage. For what purpose? To enter into rest. Have you entered into rest? Are you still trying to strive? Are you still working for it? Are you still hoping to control, contain?

[52:54] And God's like, I have a rest for you. I'll add everything you need. If you'd prioritize. Jesus is the name to be remembered.

[53:06] Jesus is the name to be prioritized. He's the name that was declared. That was given. And to be received. For the purpose of rest. There is no salvation.

[53:19] Any other name given among men. Under heaven. Whereby we must be saved. If you've not entered into that salvation yet. If you've not entered into the rest. That alone is found and contained. In the person and name of Jesus. Because he fulfilled for you.

[53:31] Your obligation to God. As he hung on that cross. Father forgive them. They know not what they do. But he knew exactly what he was doing. So that we could enter into rest.

[53:44] The name of the Lord is not to be taken lightly. But it is to be received in rest. We do not take that name lightly. But do receive it.

[53:56] Receive it in the rest he wants to give. Our part as we take communion. Is simply to recall. To rehearse and respond. To what God has declared. And given for our rest.

[54:07] He has given Jesus for our rest. He has given us the Holy Spirit. Not the law. Are you going to recall that? Are you going to respond to that? Paul says.

[54:18] Moreover brethren. I declare unto you the gospel. Which I preached unto you. Which also you have received. And wherein you stand. By which also you are saved. If you keep in memory.

[54:29] What I preached unto you. Meaning you can't forget it. No. What he means is. If you respond to it. Unless you believed in vain. Unless your belief becomes empty.

[54:41] Void and meaningless. Because. You don't understand. Who that name is. For I delivered unto you. First of all. That which also I received. How that Christ died for our sins.

[54:52] According to the scriptures. That he was buried. And that he rose again. The third day. According to the scriptures. For what purpose? So that we could enter into rest. Father. Lord.

[55:02] As we. Take communion now. Lord. We'll all receive. And then we'll wait. And we'll take it together. Lord. As we. Just sit in your presence now. Lord. We want to.

[55:13] Respond. To that name. We don't take it lightly. You are the Lord. Our God. You are Jehovah. Jesus. Jehovah. Is salvation. You are the word of God.

[55:24] The word made flesh. Which dwelt among us. The word that was magnified. Above your name. You are the rest. That you want to give to us. Lord. Come unto me. All you that labor.

[55:35] And are heavy laden. And I will give you rest. You shall find rest. Unto your souls. Lord. We respond to that now. We say yes. To your rest.

[55:46] And to your priorities. In Jesus name. Amen. You know. We enter in now by love. We have a relationship of love. It's the law of love.

[55:58] But that love. Love must be expressed. Love cannot be contained. It has to be expressed. I can't just contain love. The scripture tells us. John tells us. Beloved.

[56:08] Let us love. One another. You know the best place to practice God's love? With each other. If we can love each other. I bet we can love the world. Beloved.

[56:18] Let us love one another. For love is of God. And everyone that loves is born of God. And knoweth God. He that loveth not. Knoweth not God. Because God is love. In this was manifest.

[56:29] The love of God. Towards us. That he sent his only begotten son. Into the world. That we might live through him. Not through effort. Or work. Or law. Here in his love. Not that we love God.

[56:42] But that he loved us. And gave himself to be the propitiation. The payment. The satisfaction. For our sins. Beloved. If God so loved us. We ought also to love one another.

[56:55] The Lord bless you. And keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you. The Lord be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you. And give you peace. Go in his rest.

[57:07] And be blessed. God bless you.